Hands Stained in Blood Not Mine
by Silver Lightning Effect
Summary: AU. Team 7 is the top special investigations team in the city of Konohagakure. Recently there has been a string of mysterious and disturbing murders. Team 7 is assigned the case but can they solve it? And where will it end up taking them? ::ON HIATUS::
1. Character Info List

**Author's Note:** ** This is just the character info list so you know who is who.**

**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Organizations/Groups:**

**Team 7: **Top special investigations team in Konoha.

**KOBDI: **Konoha's Official Bureau of Defense and Investigation

**Akatsuki: **Local gang, wanted for illegal trading/selling of alcohol, murders and raids.

**Sound:** Another gang, wanted for illegal trading/selling of children, human experimentation, murders and raids.

**Character List:**

**Konoha & KOBDI: **

_Deceased:_

**Minato Namikaze:** Father of Naruto Uzumaki, former top KOBDI agent, former hokage and husband of Kushina Uzumaki.

**Kushina Uzumaki:** Mother of Naruto Uzumaki, former top forensics specialist, wife of Minato Namikaze.

**Fugaku & Mikoto Uchiha:** Parents of Sasuke Uchiha, killed in Uchiha massacre.

_Alive:_

**Hiruzen Sarutobi:** Retired hokage of Konoha, mentor to Tsunade, Jiraiya & Orochimaru.

**Tsunade Senju:** Current Hokage of Konoha, student of Sarutobi**.**

**Shizune: **Assistant and secretary of Tsunade, handles her meetings/plans/drinking habit.

**Jiraiya:** Established the KOBDI organization, Head of KOBDI, student of Sarutobi, mentor of Naruto Uzumaki.

**Kakashi Hatake:** Former KOBDI agent, in charge of Team 7, mentor of Naruto, Sasuke & Sakura.

_**Team 7: **__Special Investigations Team_

**Naruto Uzumaki:** Leader of Team 7, KOBDI agent, son of Minato Namikaze & Kushina Uzumaki, student of Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya.

**Sasuke Uchiha**_**:**_ Member of Team 7, KOBDI agent, son of Fugaku & Mikoto Uchiha, student of Kakashi Hatake and eventually Orochimaru.

**Sakura Haruno: **Member of Team 7, top forensics specialist, head of forensics team, student of Kakashi Hatake and Tsunade.

_**Forensics Team:**__Headed by Sakura Haruno_

**Sakura Haruno: **Member of Team 7, top forensics specialist, head of forensics team, specializes in bones and human body.

**Sai:** Art specialist recreates faces of victims, in charge of id-ing victim and recreating death/murder through use of holographic and digital devices.

**Tenten:** Weapons specialist, in charge of id-ing murder weapon(s).

**Shino Aburame: **Bugs specialist, in charge of id-ing cause/location/time of death.

**Ino Yamanaka:** Psychologist, specializes in study of criminal minds and behaviors.

_**Akatsuki: **__Gang, rivals with Sound._

**Pein:** Leader of Akatsuki, partners with Konan.

**Konan: **Only female, partner of Pein.

**Itachi Uchiha: **Specializes in illusions, brother of Sasuke, responsible for Uchiha Massacre, partners with Kisame Hoshigaki.

**Kisame Hoshigaki: **One of seven legendary swordsmen, partner of Itachi Uchiha.

**Sasori no Akasuna: **Specializes in using puppets as weapons, partners with Deidara.

**Deidara: **Specializes in bombs and explosives, partner of Sasori no Akasuna.

**Kakuzu: **Treasurer, bounty hunter, medic, uses threads as weapons, partners with Hidan.

**Hidan: **Jashinist, uses scythe and odd Jashinist rituals, partner of Kakuzu.

**Tobi: **Trickster, specializes in using toys and tricks, partners with Zetsu.

**Zetsu: **Bipolar, specializes in spying, partner of Tobi.

_**Sound:**__Gang, rivals with Akatsuki._

**Orochimaru: **Leader of Sound, experiments on humans, student of Sarutobi.

**Kabuto Yakushi: **Orochimaru's assistant, specializes in using medic skills as a weapon.

**Kimimaro: **Successful experiment, has chronic illness, can use bones in body as weapon.

**Tayuya: **Uses flute and music to create illusions and disorientate enemies.

**Jiroubou: **Successful experiment, has four arms, uses muscle and strength as weapon.

**Sakon & Ukon: **Successful experiment, twins, can join and separate bodies at will.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Hope that explains the characters and their roles. So, I'm done with typing the first chapter and was wondering if anyone could help me come up with a good title for the story. I haven't been able to create one, which is odd since titles usually come to me. For now it's titled Intensity but I want to change it…**

**So whoever provides a title that I find suitable and decide to use will get an OC in the story for a small part as a criminal or victim. For more info on the OC part just PM me, you can also PM your title ideas if you feel more comfortable.**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Author's Note:** **Here's the new story that I promised. It's a thriller, similar to CSI or Bones. There will be a bunch of Naruto characters popping in and out. There were also be some random characters made up for the storyline. Enjoy!**

******Thanks to VampQueen27 for the title.**  


**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O**

**~Word Count~ **

**Story Only: 1, 508**

**With AN: 1, 703**

**O.o.O**

**Info:**

_***…* **_**= Noise**

**"…" = Speaking**

**'…' = Thinking/Inners**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

**October 9…11:30 a.m.**

A young man around twenty or so was walking briskly down the street, a foam cup of coffee in one hand, and a briefcase in the other. The wind ruffled his golden hair and the sun made his ocean blue eyes sparkle. He seemed to be in a hurry from the constant glances at his watch and the mumbled cursing.

Finally arriving at his destination, a large building named the "Academy of Forensics and Anthropology"; he sped up and walked through the automatic doors.

Rushing past the front desk with a brief nod at the secretary he continued with determination through a series of hallways; arriving at last in front of a door with "The Lab" placarded on it.

He slipped inside and placed his briefcase on a desk, finally relaxing and sipping his now cold coffee. His face scrunched up with distaste and he dumped the coffee unceremoniously into the trash with a sigh.

"Coffee?" a pink-headed woman with sapphire green eyes asked pouring him a fresh mug and shaking her head at the wasted cup.

The man grinned brightly, grabbing the mug and taking a sip, "Thank you Sakura-chan. So is the teme here yet?"

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you not to call Sasuke that?" Sakura asked with mock anger as she swatted him on the head lightly, "And no, he's not here yet."

Naruto pouted childishly before chuckling and muttering something about beating the teme. The door opened a few moments later presenting the so-called teme.

"I got here before you teme, you're paying for ramen tonight!" Naruto called out with enthusiasm.

Sasuke Uchiha was a fairly pale man with black spiky "chicken-butt" hair and coal black, sometimes red in the light, eyes. He stood around the same height as Naruto. Both were a few inches taller than Sakura.

He glanced at Naruto and rolled his eyes before replying, "Whatever, dobe. I'm only late because I had to pick up something."

"You're still paying," Naruto argued.

"Yeah. I know." Sasuke coolly answered.

Sakura handed Sasuke a mug of coffee as well before speaking, "Alright boys, no fighting. We have a case to solve remember? Come on and I'll show you what we've dug up."

The pinkette turned and walked deeper into the large room, the boys finished their coffee and put the mugs down before following. The Lab consisted of three "rooms", the recreation room, the testing room and the main room where the bones of the victims were examined and studied.

On the lab table lay a bunch of bones set out in the proper positions; some had labeled cards next to them. There were a few screens set up around the table. A young man with brown spiked up hair and dark shades stood studying something on the bones.

"They're here Shino. You can show them what you found," Sakura addressed the man.

"Of course Sakura-san. We discovered that there were traces of wood in the remaining flesh, suggesting a wood-based weapon. However a wooden weapon was definitely not the murder weapon seeing as the damage inflicted on the bones was worse than can be caused by wood. Tenten is determining what wood item was used and we think that the wooden object was only used for knocking out the victim," Shino explained calmly.

"There were also some bits of concrete suggesting that the victim was then dragged to the final area where the body was discovered. We've also identified who the victim is," Sakura added.

"I still can't get over how you can find out so much just by looking at the bones," Naruto mused with admiration.

Sakura smiled lightly at Naruto's expression before turning to the newcomer, a man with straight black hair and coal eyes. His name was Sai; he was the one who reconstructed victims' faces.

"Ah Sai. Please show agents Uzumaki and Uchiha the picture you've come up with," Sakura began.

Sai nodded and opened up his sketchbook to a certain page before turning it towards the others. The picture was of a young girl with long shoulder length hair.

"Alright. Shino open up the database and let's see if we can get a match."

Shino pressed a button causing one of the screens to flicker to life. He continued to click a few objects before the database popped up. The picture was then scanned on and the database began searching for a match, flickering through pictures of different people.

It finally stopped on an identical picture of the girl, her hair was a brown color and she had pale blue eyes. She looked around ten or twelve.

"Suki Kagome. Age 11. Went missing two months ago. Last seen at her dance studio on Friday, August 7th," Shino whispered, reading the info off the screen.

Sakura sighed before clearing her throat, "Well there's where you two start then…"

"Right. Don't worry Sakura-chan we'll find the psychopath who killed this little girl. I promise," Naruto muttered squeezing Sakura's shoulder comfortingly before turning and walking out.

**October 9****th****…3:00 p.m.**

Naruto and Sasuke had driven to the dance studio and parked outside.

"Well dobe, let's go in," Sasuke ordered slipping out of the car.

Naruto followed silently, they walked into the building, looking around as they entered.

There was a class going on right now and many mothers sat around watching their daughters. Sasuke and Naruto seated themselves to wait for the class to end so that they could talk with the instructor. They didn't have to wait long.

The instructor noticed them and began walking toward the two agents. Both stood up casually.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" the woman asked. She was thin and agile; her hair was a black color and long, going down to her hips, her red eyes stared at the two inquiringly.

"Yes, I think you can. We're KOBDI agents, if we could step somewhere more private, we'd like to ask you a few questions," Sasuke replied showing his badge.

Her eyes widened as she nodded and led them to an enclosed office at the back of the studio. She closed the door gently and sat down behind the desk gesturing to the two seats in front.

"My name is Kurenai Yuuhi, I'm the owner and instructor of this studio. What exactly can I help you with?" she asked.

"Miss Kurenai, was Suki Kagome one of your students at the studio?" Naruto inquired.

"Yes, up until two months back. Then she all of a sudden stopped attending. I'm not sure why though," Kurenai answered.

Naruto sighed and continued, "Suki is dead. Her body was found recently. We were wondering if you knew of anyone who might have had something against her."

Kurenai gasped in shock before responding shakily, "She was one of the best students so many of the other girls were in fact jealous but none would go as far as to k-kill her. Everybody liked Suki even if they were jealous; she was a friendly girl, always helping everyone. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt her…"

"I see. Thank you for your time Miss Yuuhi. I'm sorry if we disturbed you. I hope we can trust you to stay quiet about this until we discover her murderer?" Sasuke voiced.

"Of course. Good luck," Kurenai garbled watching as the two walked out.

"Well that wasn't very helpful," Naruto muttered in frustration.

Sasuke sighed, "Actually we know that it wasn't anyone who knew her directly so that means this killer chose her at random."

"I suppose," the blonde mumbled.

Back at the Lab…7:23 p.m.

"Sakura? Any new info?" Sasuke asked as he and Naruto walked back into the lab.

Sakura glanced up from her desk, "Actually yes, I discovered that the girl was "experimented on". There were some odd chemicals found in a sample of the blood. One was a suppressive drug most likely used to keep her weak, there was also some sort of poison perhaps."

"Experimented on? That's just sick and wrong. So you're saying that before she died she was held prisoner and had been experimented upon? Do you think that the experiment went wrong perhaps killing her?" Naruto pondered.

"I think so since we have not found any fatal wounds. Though it seems she was beaten and tortured as well. Whoever did this is seriously wrong in the head," Sakura muttered as she massaged her temples.

A woman with long blond hair tied up in a high ponytail and wearing a purple suit walked in at that moment and declared, "I'm speculating that this isn't the only victim. There will be more to come…"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the woman, "Ino, nice for you to join us. So why exactly do you think that?"

"I'm a psychologist remember? This crackpot whoever he is, is most likely kidnapping children for illegal human experimentation. Why? I don't know yet. Probably just for the fun of seeing the kids suffer." Ino concluded.

"This is only the beginning…"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Hope you liked it. If you can't tell I'm going to enjoy writing this since I love all those murder shows and especially love psychology. It was a fun course. So I hope you look forward to the next chapter.**

**Thanks once again to VampQueen27 for the epic title.**

**Please review.**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	3. Chapter 2: An Unexpected Bday Present

**Author's Note:** **Second chapter of the story is up. Things just never go right for Naruto Uzumaki, especially not on his birthday…**

**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O**

**~Word Count~ **

**Story Only: 1, 903**

**With AN: 2, 082 **

**O.o.O**

**Info:**

_***…* **_**= Noise**

**"…" = Speaking**

**'…' = Thinking/Inners**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Chapter 2: An Unexpected Birthday Present**

**October 10****th****: 9:30 a.m.**

"It's that time of the year again huh?" a blonde male muttered as he rose from his bed and stretched as was his normal morning routine, "And it's a Monday…even worse. I hate Mondays…"

A shower and change of clothes later, Naruto walked out of his apartment with his usual cup of coffee and briefcase, at ten. As he walked by many people nodded in his direction with a smile. Things had changed since he'd been the village pariah. Citizens respected him now and treated him as a human being.

'At least I'm early today, there's one good thing so far,' he thought as he entered the Academy building and waltzed into the Lab, scanning his I.D. card at the gate.

Shino looked up from his notes as Naruto entered and set his things down. Tossing his-empty for once-cup of coffee into the recycling bin.

"Naruto-san," Shino acknowledged.

Naruto walked over, "Shino. So where is everyone? Tenten and Sai should be here by now…"

"I do not know. Uchiha-san and Haruno-san are unavailable though," Shino responded quietly.

"Hmm…odd. Well why are you here so early then?" Naruto perused.

Shino paused as if looking for the appropriate words, "I had formulated a theory concerning the case and wished to test it out."

"Did it work?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I do not know yet. I was waiting for Tenten since I needed her assistance." He mumbled.

"Ah, well I guess I'll head out and see if I can spot the teme and Sakura then. Bye," Naruto waved as he exited the building not but five minutes after entering it.

**A Random Bench: 10:45 a.m.**

Naruto sat on a bench wondering where everyone could be. He had looked at Ichiraku's, the academy once more, his teammates' homes as well as the Hokage's Tower. His efforts were of no use since they were no where in sight.

'Well, since no one's at work and I can't find them anywhere, might as well go home and have the day off. I might even buy a cupcake,' he thought standing and heading to his apartment.

He opened the door realizing it was unlocked, 'Did I forget to unlock it?'

Entering he locked the door behind him and walked into the living room, tossing his coat on the couch and his case on the counter. He reached for the lights and flicked them on with a sigh.

"SURPRISE!" was echoed from every corner as people jumped up from their hiding spots. Naruto, who had been tense when he entered, visibly relaxed and even grinned.

Sakura and Sasuke walked towards him.

"Happy birthday dobe," Sasuke muttered handing the blond a box, "This is why I was late yesterday so technically I'm still winning."

Naruto raised and eyebrow in an attempt to looks serious but burst out laughing instead, "Thanks teme and I'm still counting that as one win for me so we're tied."

"Happy birthday Naruto," Sakura gave him a hug and led him into the room.

Every one Naruto knew was there: the teme, Sakura, Sai, Tenten, Lee, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, even Neji and of course Hinata; his godfather Jiraiya, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Grandma Tsunade, Old man Sarutobi, Konohamaru and his friends, even Mr. Ichiraku and Ayame and many others he'd met.

"Naruto, so you're finally twenty one now? We should go out drinking soon to celebrate, guys only," Jiraiya suggested clapping him on the back.

"You bet, pervy sage," Naruto grinned.

Jiraiya could be heard muttering something along the lines of "that brat, I told him not to call me that name."

**1:00 p.m.**

By now Naruto had opened all his presents and cut the cake. There were many party games that were played as well. Most of the guests had left for work. Only Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, and Sai remained.

They all decided to just take the day off and were helping Naruto clean up his apartment. As Naruto reached for a paper plate that had somehow managed to rest on a high shelf his cell phone rang.

He pulled it out to see the number was of one of the phones at the lab.

"Uzumaki here. Who is it?" he asked.

"Naruto-san, it is Shino."

"Shino. What's up?"

"It seems that another body has been found."

Naruto froze. The others seemed to have noticed something was wrong and began setting down their trash bags and walking towards him. He swallowed, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden, causing him to almost choke instead.

"…Where?" he spoke shakily.

"Near your house in fact. Senju Street, the alleyway behind 'Kunais R US'."

Alright. We'll be there in ten minutes. Thanks Shino." Naruto hung up the phone and turned solemnly to his teammates, "Another body was found, a few blocks from here. Let's go."

**Alleyway behind Kunais R US…1:15 p.m.**

Shino was already at the scene when they arrived.

Sakura immediately donned some gloves and set forth to examine the body. It was another little girl, around six this time. She was obviously freshly killed since her body had yet to start decomposing. She wore what seemed like a white rag and there were cuts on her petite body.

On the wall where her body had been placed were the words, 'Happy Birthday Demon-Child' in the girl's blood.

Naruto froze in shock, 'It couldn't be. No the killer couldn't know who I am…could they?'

"Dobe?" Sasuke nudged.

When the blond didn't respond he walked closer, "Dobe? Naruto? Are you all right?"

Naruto managed a small nod still looking at the words.

Sasuke glanced at what the blond seemed transfixed with and spotted the words.

"Demon-child? Naruto, what's the message mean?" Sasuke asked.

"It's addressed to me…" the pale blond whispered.

Sakura walked up to Naruto, "I want to take her back to the lab for better examination. I can't tell what the cause of death is for certain until I get to clean the body and study it closely."

"Of course," Naruto garbled, finally seeming to shake off his dread, gesturing some of the workers to gather up the body for transport.

They lifted her and wrapped her in a white cloth and carried her to the back of one of the forensic vans to take to the Academy. The team also loaded into a van.

**The Lab…1:34 p.m.**

"Dobe, what did you mean back at the alley? When you said the message was to you?" Sasuke demanded as soon as they entered the lab.

"Message? You mean the writing on the wall?" Sakura asked joining the two.

"Yes…it means that the killer knows who I am…" Naruto choked out.

Sasuke's eyes widened, "…what did he mean by demon-child?"

Naruto seemed to shrink as he sat down, "When we were little and still in school, when you two still hated me and pretended I didn't exist…"

Sasuke and Sakura cringed visibly remembering how mean they were to the blond.

"…All the citizens also hated me. You know how my parents were dead when I was born? Well before everyone found out who they were…I was blamed for the death of the yondaime, my dad, because that day was the day the serial killer: the demon fox, Kyuubi, went on a rampage killing citizens. My dad died when he was fighting the Kyuubi and even though the Kyuubi was killed my dad also died, my mom as well when she blocked my dad from getting hit by a bullet. They blamed me for the serial killer's appearance since I was the only child born that day and was found near the killer's and my parents' bodies."

Sakura hugged Naruto, "I'm so sorry I was ever mean to you Naruto."

Sasuke also came and hugged the blond, "I'm also sorry dobe, and this is a man hug. If anyone finds out about this I will kill you."

"You got it teme," Naruto smiled slowly, cheering up slightly.

**2:15 p.m.**

Soon after the confession the team got back to work.

Once the body was sterilized and removed of clothing it was placed on the examination table. The girl looked like she could be sleeping if it weren't for the deep gashes to her body.

Sakura and Shino examined the body closely, wrote, in detail, every wound and cut, down; the angle, the deepness into the flesh, among other factors.

"What's this..?" Sakura muttered at an odd incision on the victim's chest.

On the torso, a pair of angel wings were engraved, in great detail.

Naruto's eyes widened as something clicked in his mind. He rushed to the row upon rows of file cabinets, finding the one he was looking for, slid a drawer open and began shuffling through the folders.

"Dobe? What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, "This is no time for games."

"No not games. I remembered something," the blonde muttered as he drew out two or three files before shutting the drawer and hastily opening another one. He pulled out another set of files, this one moderately large and slammed shut the drawer, placing the folders on his desk and opening the first smaller ones.

"Care to elaborate?" Sasuke suggested sarcastically.

Naruto ignoring the jibe continued, "The symbol of angel wings on her chest. I've seen it before. As well as the fact that both victims have been children so far. I remember there was a case similar to this one before though it was closed."

Sakura paused, "A case similar…what do you mean?"

"The old man told me once about a case he had headed that was a dead end. There were killings of little children varying from five to sixteen years of age. They discovered who it was but never caught him since he escaped. Ah here we go," Naruto pulled out a paper with a photo of the same angel wings, "Three years ago, bodies were found, and they all bared the angel wing symbol on their chests. The killer was determined to be an assassin for hire named Zora Swae. Apparently she's a cold-blooded mercenary and serial killer for hire who's one of the best. She marks all her victims with angel wings on their torso earning her the name 'The Bloody Angel.'"

"Is she the killer then? But it doesn't add up…what about the drugs in the system. The experimentation and mutation?" Sakura pondered.

"That's where the old man's case comes in. He discovered that his student, one of the Sannin, Orochimaru had been secretly experimenting on children and teenagers to try to discover a way to immortality. Or to at least extend his life. Though the old man didn't want to believe it. He had to once the evidence lead to Orochimaru. Before they could kill or capture him though he escaped." Naruto elaborated in a grave voice, "It would seem the White Snake of Konoha is back and experimenting again…"

"So that must mean that Orochimaru has hired this "Bloody Angel" to dispose of the bodies of the 'failed experiments'." Sasuke declared.

Sakura exhaled, "It would seem so…"

"Aya Nakamura." Sai interrupted.

Sakura blinked, "What?"

"The girl. Her name is Aya Nakamura. Age six. Was last seen at a local playground. She was with her older sister, Kira, age sixteen. The address of their home is 89402 Lightning Drive," Sai explicated.

"Well Sasuke, looks like we have a home to visit," Naruto stated.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Quite a long chapter to make up for uploading so late. Once again very busy. Since spring break is coming up in a week, the next few chapters should be up on time. If not I'll try to make them long in apology. **

**So what did you think of this chapter? Hope that easily explained how Naruto's parents died and the whole Kyuubi attack. In this modern day alternate universe, having a demon wouldn't really work so I changed it up a bit. **

**Oh and the "Bloody Angel", Zoe Swae is VampQueen 27's OC that's going to be in the story as a prize for providing a suitable title. You shall definitely be seeing and hearing more of her.**

**Please review.**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	4. Chapter 3: The Bloody Angel

**Author's Note:** **Since I'm going to be at an Anime convention: Anime Matsuri, my first one, all day today and tomorrow, I uploaded this early in the morning. So hope you like it.**

**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O**

**~Word Count~ **

**Story Only: 2, 266**

**With AN: 2, 367**

**O.o.O**

**Info:**

_***…* **_**= Noise**

**"…" = Speaking**

**'…' = Thinking/Inners**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Chapter 3: The Bloody Angel**

**Unknown Location…1500 hours…October 10th**

It was shadowy and damp, somewhere underground. A girl walked quickly through the winding hallways to her destination. She navigated her way easily as if she had memorized the route, though every hall looked the exact same. The halls stopped abruptly leading into a cavernous area.

The girl walked into the area and crouched down onto one knee in the center, staring at a space, which somehow seemed much murkier than the rest of the already dim cavern.

"You called for me?" she stated.

"Ah yes-s-s….Miss S-s-swae…you have your orders-s-s correct?" a voice inquired from the darkness.

"Yes, my lord," the woman replied keeping her eyes lowered to the ground.

The voice seemed to smirk, "Good, good. You are dis-s-smis-s-sed then, carry them out."

The woman rose to her feet, "Of course my lord." She turned to go though was stopped by something cold being pressed against her neck.

An arm snaked around her waist as a new voice spoke, "Miss Swae, you weren't planning on leaving without a proper farewell to our lord now were you?"

She clenched her jaw, "No of course not Kabuto," the arms released her and she turned back around and walked swiftly to the direction of the first voice. She stood in front of a throne made of stone like the rest of the lair. She bent down on one knee and reached out to grab the hand resting on one of the armrests, "Lord Orochimaru, forgive me for forgetting," she muttered as she kissed a ring on the hand before she stood once more and strode out of the cave.

Orochimaru chuckled as she walked away, "What do you think of our little as-s-s-sas-s-sin Kabuto?"

"She's good. One of the best, though I'm not sure about her loyalty one the job is done my lord," the silver-haired assistant replied pushing up his glasses.

"Ah well, once the job is-s-s done we will no longer be needing Mis-s-s S-s-swae. I'll give you the honor of dis-s-spos-s-sing of her," Orochimaru hissed.

Kabuto kneeled, "Thank you lord Orochimaru."

The man smiled flipping his long black hair back out of his face. He sat there stroking one of his many snakes that slithered about…

**Lightning Drive…3:10 p.m.**

Sasuke and Naruto stood in front of the latest victim's home. It was quite large in fact, a two-story with a large entrance and driveway.

"Well teme, let's go in," Naruto sighed pushing off his post on the car as he began to walk up the driveway. Sasuke followed him after locking the red coupé.

They reached the door in a few seconds and rang the door bell. Naruto put on a serious face as the door swung open.

"Excuse me? Are the Nakamura's in?" he asked the maid that had opened the door.

She paused, "Um yes. May I ask who you are?"

The two pulled out their badges, "Agents Uzumaki and Uchiha ma'am of KOBDI. We have a few questions we'd like to ask Ms. Kira."

The maid's eyes widened as she stepped back and allowed the two to enter, closing the door behind them, "Please follow me sirs."

She led them to a living room type area, "If you'd please wait here. I'll go call the Mr. and Mrs."

The two took a seat, glancing around at the exquisite décor surrounding them. From lamps to chairs, carpets to tiling; everything was exceedingly classy and costly.

The two's observing time was interrupted by the appearance of the owners of the home. A woman and man, presumably Mr. And Mrs. Nakamura. The woman had long, curly black hair and toxic purple eyes. The man also had long hair that was swept into a braid placed on his shoulder; though his hair was pale white-blond and he had sharp green eyes, just like his younger daughter, the victim, Aya. He seemed half-european from his coloring.

The Uzumaki and the Uchiha rose to shake hands with both adults before they all sat down once more.

"May I ask why you gentlemen are here?" Mrs. Nakamura requested.

Naruto nodded, "Of course. Mr., Mrs. Nakamu-"

Mr. Nakamura interrupted, "Please, call us by our first names. Lucien and Namine," he spoke gesturing to himself then his wife.

"Certainly, Lucien, Namine. We are agents Uzumaki and Uchiha of KOBDI. We are here to ask your oldest daughter Kira Nakamura a few questions," Naruto finished.

"Ask Kira some questions? What ever for?" Namine asked.

Sasuke explained, "We found your younger daughter, Aya's, body in an alleyway. I'm sorry to say that she was already dead when we found her. Since Kira was the last one seen with Aya we need to know if she noticed anything suspicious the day your daughter went missing."

Both of the parents seemed very shocked at the news. Lucien pulled himself together first.

"Alright. If it'll help find the person who killed our daughter…then I'll get her," he decided.

"No need. I'm already here, Lucien," a girl around sixteen muttered walking into the room.

She had the same toxic purple eyes and black hair as her mother, though her black hair was shoulder-length and straight, in layers, with purple streaks.

She sat down on a lone chair far from her parents., "Ask away."

The two turned towards her, "Miss Nakamura, you were the last one seen with your younger sister, correct?"

"Yes I was and call me Kira," she replied.

The Uchiha spoke next, "Kira, can you tell us why you two were at the park?"

She raised an eyebrow, "We always went to the park on Saturdays since that was the only free time we had."

"Did you notice anyone suspicious that day? Anyone that stood out or seemed too normal. Any person who seemed like they were following you or happened to always be near you two?" Naruto continued.

Her face creased in concentration, "I think there was one man. He was…tall, not sure how much; taller than me for sure and I'm 5'6. His hair was tied in a ponytail and it was an unnatural color. It looked white or silver? And…he wore glasses…yes, framed ones that he constantly kept pushing up. I'm sorry that's all I can remember…"

Naruto smiled, "No that's very good. Thank you Kira."

"Could you please let us have Aya's body?" Namine asked.

Sasuke nodded, "Of course, as soon as we finish looking at it we will hand it over so that you may have her funeral."

"Thank you," Lucien responded.

Kira spoke up, "Please find the person who did this to my sister."

"We plan to, thank you for your patience. We'll contact you when the body can be released to you," Sasuke replied.

The two nodded and then left the house heading back to the lab.

**Another Unknown Location…1620 hours**

"How dare that snake pedophile think he can boss me around," Zora Swae muttered to herself as she walked up to the entrance of one of the many Akatsuki bases.

A giant Venus flytrap walked up to Zora, stepping away from the tree where it was blending in. The trap opened up revealing a man who as literally half black and half white with glowing yellow eyes.

"Hello Zetsu. How have you been?" Zora asked the plant man.

"I have been quite well," Zetsu replied in a light tone before continuing in a deeper voice, "**Welcome back Miss Swae. Leader-sama has been expecting you**."

"Alright. I'll head straight to his office then," she replied stepping up to the rock wall entrance and placing her ring, that she kept on a chain around her neck, into a small hole in the wall.

The fortification began to slowly open up and with a salute to Zetsu she walked in, the barrier coming to a close behind her. Zetsu's trap closed up as he moved back towards the tree once again blending in.

The assassin continued walking through a narrow rock passageway until she entered the actual base which was made of limestone. She navigated her way to a door marked 'Leader's Office'. Knocking briefly twice she waited for permission to enter.

Within a few seconds a deep voice called out from within, "Enter."

She opened the door and stepped in closing it behind her. She bowed quickly before walking up to the desk and taking a seat, "Leader-sama."

"Miss Swae, welcome back. I hope your mission went successfully?" the leader of the Akatsuki asked.

She grinned, "Yes. Orochimaru has assigned me a new mission, this time to actually kidnap the child in Kabuto's place."

The shadowed figure hummed, "Good. This means he is starting to trust you at least a little. Konan please hand Miss Swae her official cloak," he muttered to the femal figure next to him.

Konan had short blue hair that had a bun on the top of her head with an origami rose pinning it. She was the only other female member of the Akatsuki and the leader's childhood friend.

She walked closer to Zora and held out a black package, "Here you go Zora."

"Thank you Konan," the killer replied as she took the package and opened it swiftly revealing an official Akatsuki cloak of black with red, white outlined, clouds.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki officially Miss Swae. You have proven your loyalty. If you want you may take a short break and set up your room then please proceed with the mission that Orochimaru assigned you," the leader ordered.

Zora stood up, the cloak on one arm, and bowed once more, "Of course Leader-sama. Thank you."

Then she turned and walked out of the office trying to find the room with her name on it. Discovering it easily she opened the door and set to putting her few belongings away. She hung up the cloak in her closet before heading back to the entrance to finish her mission for the white snake.

**The Lab…4:30 p.m.**

The two arrived back at the lab once more and entered. While Sasuke explained the meeting to the others Naruto flipped open the file from earlier on Orochimaru.

"Ah. The man that Kira described. His name is Kabuto Yakushi, he's apparently Orochimaru's assistant," Naruto exclaimed.

"Hmm so the man actually has someone who works closely with him. I'm thinking that he probably tells this Kabuto everything," Sasuke pondered.

"Maybe," Naruto replied, "But still we have no way of catching him."

Sasuke's phone rang, "Hello? What another kidnapping? Where? Alright we'll be there quickly. Goodbye."

"Another kidnapping?" Naruto asked.

"It would seem so. This time it's a boy, age sixteen,. It's not far from here, if we hurry we may be able to catch Kabuto," Sasuke responded already heading to the door.

The two slammed their doors closed as they arrived at the scene. It was a skateboarding park. The boy that had been kidnapped had just been grabbed a few minutes ago.

The two split up each taking one direction and searching the alleys near by.

Naruto walked carefully his gun at the ready. He had searched five other alleys so far. Suddenly there was a small noise like a muffled cry. Naruto sped up and quickly called Sasuke on his radio, "Uchiha, this is Uzumaki. I heard a noise that sounded like a muffled voice. I'm in the alleyway behind the grocery store."

"Copy that, I'll be right over," The Uchiha's voice came from the device.

Naruto sped up a little until he reached a bend, the noise seemed to be coming from around the corner. He took a deep breath before rushing around the bend, with his gun up, "Freeze! This is the KOBDI."

There was a young boy tied up on the ground. Naruto scanned the area before rushing to boy and untying him, "Listen kid. I want you to quickly ruin back to the skate park alright?"

The boy nodded and ran off.

"Great. You made me lose my target," a female voice moaned.

Naruto stood up swinging around to see a young-looking girl, around his age. She had short auburn hair in a pixie cut. Her eyes were violet and slightly narrowed in annoyance. Her skin was very pale almost white. She was quite short, 5'1, that Naruto stood over her.

Naruto's eyes widened in recognition, "You must be Zora Swae."

She laughed, "Nice to know that my name is known," she walked closer drawing out some knives, "Because you made me lose my target I think I'll take you instead, maybe the snake will be fine with an adult."

"Freeze and put your hands where I can see them," Sasuke's voice yelled from behind the assassin. She cursed and skidded so that she could face both of them.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to have backup. I don't have time to talke care of both of you so I'll be taking my leave, until we meet gain then officers," she muttered quickly jumping backwards up onto a trash can then the roof and sprinting away.

"Tch, we almost had her too," Naruto mumbled.

"At least we saved the boy," Sasuke reminded the blond.

"Yeah I guess. Let's go Uchiha," naruto muttered as they headed back to the lab.

**Orochimaru's Hideout…1645 hours**

"You failed? How?" Orochimaru hissed after Zora returned.

"I'm sorry my lord. Two KOBDI agents appeared," Zora muttered.

"KOBDI agents-s-s hmm? It would s-s-seem that things-s will be getting much harder…very well. I s-s-shall forgive you this-s-s-s time, but if you fail again you s-shall be s-s-severely punis-s-shed. Unders-s-stand?" the snake lord decided.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru," the assassin muttered with a bow.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Well I'm off to my convention then. Sadly I'm not cosplaying but I'll still take pics with other cosplayers. Until then, hope you all have a good day. Remember to please review.**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	5. Chapter 4: Dawn of the Akatsuki

**Author's Note:** **I am so sorry for not updating for three or four weeks. Every time I finally sat down to type something happened. First I had been on a creativity block. Then I got sick, as in strep throat and a fever. Then I had to go to a party. Then my brother kept bothering me and deleted half of what I wrote. And I also haven't been able to get on a computer for a while. Well I hope that you all still enjoy this chapter, I tried to make it as long as I could.**

**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O**

**~Word Count~ **

**Story Only: 3, 516**

**With AN: 3, 888**

**10 pages on WORD, Single-spaced.**

**O.o.O**

**Info:**

_***…* **_**= Noise**

**"…" = Speaking**

**'…' = Thinking/Inners**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

_(Recap)_

**_Orochimaru's Hideout…1645 hours_**

"_You failed? How?" Orochimaru hissed after Zora returned._

"_I'm sorry my lord. Two KOBDI agents appeared," Zora muttered._

"_KOBDI agents-s-s hmm? It would s-s-seem that things-s will be getting much harder…very well. I s-s-shall forgive you this-s-s-s time, but if you fail again you s-shall be s-s-severely punis-s-shed. Unders-s-stand?" the snake lord decided._

"_Yes, Lord Orochimaru," the assassin muttered with a bow._

**Chapter 4: Dawn of the Akatsuki**

**Akatsuki's Hideout…0234 hours… Night of October 12****th**

"Gah, that pedophile is so annoying. It's not my fault I got caught it's those stupid KOBDI guys' fault for interrupting me," the bloody angel concluded, "Now I can't sleep without dreaming about that blond cop! There was something odd about him but I can't remember what, he also seemed familiar…"

A voice yelled from next door, "Shut up would you? I'm trying to sleep, yeah!"

Zora turned to the wall and yelled back, "Stuff it Deidara, I'm barely whispering, if you can't sleep it's not my fault!"

There were a few grumbles from the wall before silence once more. Zora sighed as she adjusted her position on the bed. It was a good thing Orochimaru expected her to find her own sleeping place and food otherwise he'd be wondering where she was.

'So. I'm working for the snake pedophile as a double agent for the Akatsuki. Or at least that's what leader thinks. Sound and the Akatsuki are both idiots, when I'm done here I'll be rich and then I can leave this damned city behind and travel to other nations,' she thought to her self with a smirk.

**Naruto's Apartment…0312 hours…Night of October 12****th**

Naruto was also having trouble sleeping. He kept dreaming of the alley where the girl Aya was found and the message for him, his parents' deaths, when he was still the village pariah…it was like all of his fears had joined together to form one massive horrifying nightmare. The worst part was, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake himself up.

He was walking through a narrow hallway, it was dark, dank and every corridor looked the same. On the walls, ceiling, and the floor there was the same spiraling, circle pattern. Suddenly a bright light shined ahead at the end of the hall. Naruto ran towards it trying to escape this confined chamber. He ran into the light, emerging in an alleyway. A young girl's body lay slumped against the wall. On the wall in fresh blood, the girl's, was written, "Happy Birthday Demon-Child". Naruto froze, then the scene changed and he was in another alleyway. This time there was a mob of people, yelling and attacking someone. Naruto craned his neck to try and see, the crowd disappeared. He walked closer and saw a little boy with blonde hair and three whisker marks on each cheek. He was deathly still, cuts and bruises all over his body, blood flowing freely.

_Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that the little boy was him as a kid. When people still called him a demon and tried to kill him. The boy slowly stirred, opening his eyes and looking straight into the older Naruto's eyes with a desperate look, "Please help me," he whispered. Naruto reached out to touch the boy but before he could the scene changed once more._

_He was now on an open street. A baby was crying, three figures stood tall. One a woman with long red hair, another a man with blonde hair and blue eyes who looked like an older Naruto. The third was a man with a gun in one hand, a knife in the other. On his face was a feral grin of a maniac, there seemed to be an orange, killer aura around him._

_The man fired his gun at the blonde, the woman jumped in front taking the shot, it went straight through her. The woman collapsed, the blonde man caught her and laid her down before attacking the killer. He swiftly slit the man's throat with a kunai knife, at the same time the man shot the blonde in the chest._

_Both men collapsed, the first dead. The blonde dragged himself next to the woman's. They said something to each other as they died. The baby was heard crying once more, it was laid out on a stone slab near the bodies, it continued to cry as the world faded to black._

Naruto jumped awake in his bed, sweat covering his face and body. He was breathing hard, eyes widened in shock or surprise. He slowly calmed himself and glanced at the alarm clock just as it started to go off. The time was 6: 23 a.m. He turned it off and slipped out of bed heading to the bathroom and slipping into the shower.

As the water pounded down onto his body he thought of the nightmare. It was all real, every single bit of it, which made it even more frightening. He closed his eyes and hoped that this nightmare wasn't a sign of something bad to come…

**Akatsuki's Hideout…0709 hours…Morning of Thursday, October 13****th**

Zora Swae finished getting dressed, slipping on her Akatsuki cloak over her normal assassin wear. She opened her door and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Some of the members languished in the kitchen eating their own meals. She greeted them all with a nod before grabbing some cereal and milk, pouring them in a bowl then sitting down on a stool at the counter away from the others.

She quickly ate her meal before placing it in the sink and walking to the leader's office to receive her first official mission for the Akatsuki. Today was a free day from Orochimaru since he had nothing for her to do, so she decided to do an assignment for leader-sama. Knocking as normal she entered at the leader's reply and seated herself after bowing.

"Konechiwa Leader-sama. You have a job for me?" she said getting straight to the point.

He chuckled, "Yes I do Miss Swae. I feel it is time for the Akatsuki to make their move. We can't let Sound have all the fun."

"Alright, what do you want me to do?' she murmured licking her lips in anticipation.

He continued, "I want you to go into Konoha and walk around, maybe kill a few people. Let's inform everyone that the Akatsuki is not to be messed with. KOBDI already knows you work for Orochimaru and Sound so I want you to wear the special hood attached to your cloak at all times and not allow their agents to see you or else they'll figure out you are working for both of us and the information will eventually reach Orochimaru himself. Do you understand?"

She smiled wickedly, "Perfectly sir."

"Good. I have assigned Itachi and Deidara to go with you.," he added.

Zora's grin faded, "I can work with the Uchiha but why are you sending the blonde? We don't exactly get along and he hates the Uchiha as well."

The leader laughed quietly, "That is precisely why I've selected you three. You will learn to get along or at least handle being around each other without fighting. If Itachi can do it so can you and Deidara."

She sighed and muttered, "Very well Leader-sama," then exited the room with a bow.

The assassin headed to the entrance after grabbing a few items from her room. She could make out two figures waiting in front of the entrance. She pouted and headed towards them quickly.

"Swae-san, are you ready to go?" Itachi Uchiha asked in his normal bored tone.

She nodded, "I'm ready Itachi-san. What about you blondie?"

The bomber narrowed his eyes, "Ready when you are shortie."

Zora turned towards him, the two having a glaring contest, until she broke it off realizing that Itachi had already started to walk, leaving them behind. She pulled on her hood swiftly, before she and the blonde began to run after the Uchiha.

**Uchiha Compound…0745 hours… **

Sasuke had just finished getting dressed and eating his breakfast. He grabbed his coat since it was chilly this morning and slid open one of the traditional Japanese sliding doors that led to the outdoors. He decided to walk through the Uchiha gardens and take his time getting to work today.

He was walking slowly inhaling the scents of the passion flowers, white lilies, and roses that he had planted. They were still blooming though he'd have to cover them since winter would begin to set in soon. As he reached the gate that was the entrance to the whole Uchiha compound he could see a figure pacing restlessly in front of it.

He opened the gate and exited the compound, locking the archway behind him. He approached the figure with puzzlement, as he came closer he noticed the figure was blonde. The Uchiha sped up when he detected that the blonde was frowning.

"Naruto?" Sasuke called out.

The blonde froze and looked up before raising an arm in greeting.

The raven-head finally reached his partner. He seemed shocked as he took in the blonde's appearance: disheveled clothing that seemed to have been thrown on carelessly, dark circles and numerous bags under his eyes; causing their normal bright, lively blue to seem dulled and lifeless.

"Good morning," Naruto mumbled in a tired voice.

Sasuke inquired worriedly, "Are you okay Naruto? You seem really tired and…"

"Lifeless, dead, drained, haunted?" the blonde filled in with sarcasm and a laugh that had no energy in it.

"Yes. What's wrong? You don't normally wait outside the compound and you're definitely not usually this exhausted," the Uchiha questioned.

Naruto smiled humorlessly, before walking to a bench and sitting down, "I've been having nightmares, I wanted to tell someone and you were the first person I thought of. You're my best friend…and I thought you could help me with them because of the massacre…"

Sasuke smiled sadly, "I'll try."

**The City of Konohagakure…0813 hours…**

"Well looks like we've arrived," Zora muttered watching the people walking below.

She was standing atop a ten or so story apartment complex, the Uchiha and bomber standing around, also observing the city.

"Deidara, you are to plant several of your bombs around the city at places with high density of people. Swae-san I want you to go with Deidara and help him," the Uchiha ordered.

"Why the hell should I listen to you yeah?" the blonde questioned annoyed.

Itachi turned towards him, his eyes flashing red, "Because Leader-sama placed me in charge."

Deidara suppressed a shiver as he glared the raven-head before leaving to perform his job.

"What are you going to do Itachi-san?" Zora asked curiously.

The assassin could have sworn she saw the Uchiha's lips twitch upward in an almost smile before his normal mask of indifference reappeared, "I have plans to visit an old acquaintance."

The Uchiha disappeared leaving Zora standing there. She stared at the spot where he had previously stood before turning and trailing after Deidara.

**Uchiha Compound…0825 hours… **

Naruto had told Sasuke about the nightmare, every last detail. Sasuke and Naruto now huddled together on the bench as the wind blew, silence looming over them awkwardly.

Sasuke spoke first, "All I could ever do was try to forget. Of course that didn't work."

"Wasn't it your…" Naruto paused.

"My brother who killed everyone? Yes, but I don't think he did it alone or willingly. First off, Itachi was a good agent and all but even he wasn't that good that he could take out our entire clan in one night. Also, he and my father may have not gotten along but they always put aside their differences when it came to what was best for the clan," Sasuke replied sighing.

They both fell into a hush again, though it was a comfortable one this time.

A dark laugh was heard from behind them, "Seems like you don't know me as well as you think…foolish… little…brother…"

The two whirled around, Sasuke's eyes wide with recognition, hope and fear. There stood Itachi Uchiha, the man who murdered his whole clan, Sasuke's older brother.

The black cloak he wore was unbuttoned and flapped around his body, it had red clouds, outlined in white on it. His dark, long hair flying in the wind. He looked like an angel come to earth to dispense retribution. A fallen one, turned into a demon, with glowing red eyes.

"Itachi…" Sasuke trailed off.

"Brother. It seems you haven't been following my advice on getting stronger to get revenge? How disappointing, and here I was hoping to have a good fight between siblings," Itachi said, his voice dripping with fake distress.

The younger Uchiha froze, "You've changed…"

Itachi laughed once more, "I changed 13 years ago when I killed the whole clan, but you've only just now realized and accepted it."

Sasuke numbly shook his head trying to block the statement out.

"You however haven't changed one bit. You're still the same, stupid little, powerless boy that I left alive so long ago," Itachi continued with a cruel smirk.

"No," Sasuke whispered hoarsely.

"Do you want to know why I left you alive back then?"

"..no…"

"The only reason I left you alive was…"

"…..no..no…no…"

"…because I hoped you'd get angry and try to seek revenge so I could have someone else to look forward to killing…"

"…no…no, no, no, no…"

"…you always were weak, no wonder father was always disappointed in you…you could never keep up with me, no matter how hard you tried…"

"…shut up, shut up…SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled his eyes blazing.

Itachi paused, one eyebrow raised in mock surprise. He closed his eyes, smiling evilly as he waited for the younger Uchiha to continue. Silently to himself he thought, 'I'm sorry Sasuke…but it has to be this way. I need you to live and grow stronger until you can kill me, so I'll know you are strong enough to protect yourself…'

"Father wasn't always disappointed in me. He simply let out all his anger on me because he couldn't vent it on the golden son. All the anger and annoyance that formed because of you never listening and always disobeying his orders would be released on me," Sasuke shouted in fury.

The elder opened his eyes again and for a brief second Naruto saw sorrow and regret within them before contempt and annoyance flickered into place.

'Sasuke was right before,' the blond thought as he watched the two Uchiha.

"Foolish child, you think you know what father thought? What I think? You never truly knew what father was like, nor how I am like. You try to allude yourself by making father and I seem heroic and tragic so you don't have to admit that our family was broken. That mother and father stopped loving each other a long time ago and that father hated both of us," Itachi hissed, eyes narrowing.

"I knew. Oh I knew. I wished that it wasn't true, but it was. While you were out on missions or arguing with father, I was left at home. I saw mother crying every night when she thought I was asleep, crying for her son and husband who wouldn't get along. Crying for me, because of father always pushing me to be like you but stricter to be sure I was actually obedient," Sasuke choked out.

Itachi rolled his eyes but inside he began to question how he didn't notice all these things years ago, "Enough talking. I came here to see how strong you are now."

He pulled out some kunai knives, lazily tossing one at Sasuke. The kunai flew past swiftly, cutting the younger Uchiha's cheek and drawing blood, before slamming into the tree behind him.

Sasuke frowned and rubbed the blood away. Another kunai flew past this time slicing a few strands of hair, then three more, each creating tears in Sasuke's suit.

"Since when have you fought someone without a weapon?" Sasuke muttered taking off his coat and tossing it to Naruto, then rolling up his sleeves.

"You have a weapon, you're just too afraid to use it," Itachi replied sending the next kunai at Sasuke's belt and cutting off the gun pouch, causing it to fall to the ground.

Naruto placed Sasuke's coat on the bench and backed away until he was hidden behind a tree. He pulled out his gun, aiming it at Itachi in one hand, in the other he grabbed his radio. He tuned it to KOBDI agency radio line and sent a message using the Morse code system, that was used in situations in which talking could get you killed.

He had sent the message, "HELP. AGENT. UCHIHA. IN. COMBAT. NEED. BACKUP. OUTSIDE. UCHIHA. COMPOUND."

Hopefully someone would be on the radio line and would receive the message soon before some serious injuries occurred.

"I'm not afraid, I simply want to play it fair. If you use old-fashioned weapons then so will I," Sasuke declared opening pouch of his own kunai and shuriken. He pulled out the shuriken and tossed several at Itachi, slicing hair and causing Itachi's crossed-out Konoha headband to slip down. Sasuke's own headband was tightly bound on his right arm.

Itachi smiled and pulled the headband up, tying it in place once more before springing into action. He ran forward, throwing projectiles along the way, a kunai held firmly in one hand. Sasuke dodged most of them as he also raced forward, kunai out.

They sliced forward, both kunais grinding together, before both pushed off and flew back a few paces.

"Seems I haven't lost my touch yet," Sasuke smirked, twirling the weapon on his finger.

Itachi cocked his arm back, "Really? I didn't notice any difference," before he slung his hand forward, throwing senbon at Sasuke.

Sasuke dodged all but one that pierced his throwing arm. He gasped and dropped his weapon, the senbon having hit a pressure point. He clutched his arm in pain, he felt as if it was on fire.

"Did I forget to mention I'm using poison? Special thanks to a fellow Akatsuki member," Itachi chuckled walking towards his brother to give the finishing blow, "Seems like the fun will have to end soon, and I was just getting started…"

***BANG***

Itachi dropped his kunai and fell to his knees, his body hunched over in pain. He touched his shoulder to find a dark substance coating it, blood. A bullet was lodged into his shoulder, deep, the gun that shot it was held by a defiant looking blond.

Naruto ran over to Sasuke, gun still out, and helped the Uchiha to his feet, "Are you all right?"

Sasuke snapped sarcastically, "I just got poisoned at a pressure point, do I look fine to you?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly before pulling out his radio again, "This is Agent Uzumaki, I need an ambulance ASAP. I'm in front of the Uchiha compound."

"Roger that Uzumaki. How many people injured?" a voice called back.

Sasuke gritted his teeth muttering a hurry before he collapsed. Naruto's eyes widened, he crouched next to Sasuke, yelling back into the radio, "Two. One an agent. I repeat there is an agent down. Poisoned."

He glanced back to where Itachi was only to see the Uchiha was gone. Only a large pool of blood showing that he had been there at all.

He cursed before picking up Sasuke, bridal style. Sirens were heard coming his direction and he walked towards them quickly.

**Konoha Entrance…0910 hours…**

Zora and Deidara stood at the entrance once more, on top of the gate, waiting for Itachi. They had placed all the bombs and Deidara had just set them off, fires and explosions could be seen from their perch. One firework flew upward and exploded in the sky above the whole city. It formed a white cloud that looked as if it were colored in with blood against the red sunset.

Deidara smirked, "The Uchiha says to get things done quickly and he's still not here."

Zora rolled her eyes though she too wondered what kept the Uchiha so long. As if their words and thoughts had summoned him, Itachi Uchiha strode out from the forest and hopped up to the top of the gate. He seemed to be slower than usual and his face was pale.

The assassin narrowed her eyes in worry and examined the Uchiha quickly, nothing seemed off, until her eyes landed upon his shoulder…they widened in shock.

The Uchiha's cloak was completely soaked through with blood at his shoulder, smaller spots appearing on other parts of the cloak. He muttered something like 'let's move' before he fainted.

Deidara had now noticed the blood and rushed over, opening Itachi's cloak, revealing a bullet wound in the right shoulder. Blood wouldn't stop flowing out and the Uchiha seemed to be losing color.

Deidara scooped up the Uchiha quickly while Zora quickly called the base with her cell. They hurried back as fast as they could, all the while Itachi turned more and more white.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Hope you liked the chapter and hopefully it was enough to make up for the lack of updates. The Akatsuki finally made its move but at the possible price of one of their strongest members' life. Meanwhile, Naruto may have injured Itachi but Sasuke was still poisoned and he did not know if they had a cure.**

**Also have any of you have seen the news lately and heard of the student walkouts in Texas that happened in Katy ISD? Well the state basically had less money for education and had to cut or lay off a lot of teacher from all the schools and districts. It was all over Texas not just KISD. However my school, Cinco Ranch actually protested and people walked out yesterday and sat inside the school today.**

**I personally don't think that skipping class will do anything to change the people up in Austin's minds. I didn't protest like these people but I did send a letter to one of our Senators. **

**But yeah things have been very crazy lately down here. Luckily my mom still has her job, (She's a math teacher), though a lot of the teachers that I know lost theirs. We have been heard though, and appeared on national news so hopefully the guys in Austin will try to change things and fix the problems they have caused.**

**Until next time then, please review…**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	6. Chapter 5: Hope

**Author's Note: I know I said I'd try to get things up on time and I'm sorry once more. It seems as the end of the school year nears (only a month and a half now) we are getting more and more work.**

**This week was TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) week so I was studying and going to bed early for that. On Monday I have to take my AP Psychology Exam, which I haven't even started studying for may I mention and then there are a lot of projects coming up for various classes. **

**I've also been trying to catch up on a bunch of drawings I need to do. So please don't expect regular updates for a few more weeks. Though I am working hard to still update though I'm not sure if it will be consistently or not. **

**Any who please still enjoy this chapter.**

**I DON'T own anything but KOBDI and this story.**

**O.o.O**

**~Word Count~ **

**Story Only: 2, 674**

**With AN: 2, 947**

**8 pages on WORD, Single-spaced.**

**O.o.O**

**Info:**

_***…* **_**= Noise**

**"…" = Speaking**

**'…' = Thinking/Inners**

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

_(Recap)_

_Sasuke gritted his teeth muttering a hurry before he collapsed. Naruto's eyes widened, he crouched next to Sasuke, yelling back into the radio, "Two. One an agent. I repeat there is an agent down. Poisoned."_

_He glanced back to where Itachi was only to see the Uchiha was gone. Only a large pool of blood showing that he had been there at all._

_He cursed before picking up Sasuke, bridal style. Sirens were heard coming his direction and he walked towards them quickly._

_**Konoha Entrance…0910 hours…**_

_The assassin narrowed her eyes in worry and examined the Uchiha quickly, nothing seemed off, until her eyes landed upon his shoulder…they widened in shock. _

_The Uchiha's cloak was completely soaked through with blood at his shoulder, smaller spots appearing on other parts of the cloak. He muttered something like 'let's move' before he fainted._

_Deidara had now noticed the blood and rushed over, opening Itachi's cloak, revealing a bullet wound in the right shoulder. Blood wouldn't stop flowing out and the Uchiha seemed to be losing color._

_Deidara scooped up the Uchiha quickly while Zora quickly called the base with her cell. They hurried back as fast as they could, all the while Itachi turned more and more white._

**Chapter 5: Hope**

**Akatsuki Base…1018 hours…October 13th**

Deidara and Zora finally arrived back at the base. Itachi, by this point, was literally white and his cloak was a crimson-purple color, due to all the blood soaking into it.

Kisame, Itachi's partner, was waiting at the entrance for them and carried Itachi in; relieving Deidara of the duty since he seemed tired. Kisame led the way to a room Zora had not seen before, the medical examination room.

A man who was only a few inches shorter than Kisame-who was the tallest Akatsuki member-with brown skin, and his face and head covered with a cloth, had been waiting in the room. The man was Kakuzu, the doctor and accountant for the Akatsuki. He, along with Sasori-Deidara's partner-tended to the wounds the members received.

Kisame placed his partner on the silver steel table, stepping back to let Kakuzu do his job. He first used a pair of silver tongs to remove the bullet, causing the unconscious Uchiha to shudder. Blood started to flow anew from the wound like red wine flowing from a bottle.

Then he pulled out a thread and sewing needle and, after cleaning and disinfecting the injury, began to sew up the hole. The Uchiha twitched a little more as the needle went in and out of his skin. Once he was done he tied the thread tightly, bandaging the wound.

Itachi eyes fluttered open and he seemed dazed for a moment, his eyes hazy, before they focused. He stood up, thanked Kakuzu then walked past the assassin and bomber to his room, Kisame following behind like a puppy.

Deidara walked out next, most likely to his room to make more bombs. Zora paused for a minute to glance at Kakuzu, receiving a scowl, before leaving the room as well. She wandered to the leaders office to report in on the mission, wondering how Itachi seemed perfectly healthy so quickly.

Kisame had accompanied Itachi to his room, leaving when he was sure his younger partner was alright. As soon as Itachi closed the door behind him, his knees began to shake with the pressure of holding his body upright.

He forced himself to walk to his bed and sat down as his knees gave out. He began to remove his bloody cloak, wincing when the fabric passed over the shoulder that had been injured. The Uchiha tossed it to the floor and pushed himself to his feet, walking unsteadily to the bathroom.

Once inside he removed the rest of his clothing and untied his hair and headband, placing it on the counter. Itachi stepped into the shower, turning on the water, all the way hot. Trying to wash away all the blood, from his wounds and the blood he still felt upon his hands from the massacre.

His head hung heavily with the weight of his wet hair and the guilt and regret from that horrid night. Shoulders hunched dejectedly, salty tears mixing with the water and washing away.

**Konoha National Hospital…1123 hours… **

Naruto paced in the small hospital room. He had managed to get Sasuke to an ambulance while he and backup searched for Itachi. There was no trace of course, there had been reports of fires and explosions from all around the city. It would seem Itachi hadn't come back to Konoha alone.

The death count was high at 532, while there were 300 or so people injured. Soon after handing Sasuke to the medics, Naruto had seen a firework go off in the shape of a white cloud, looking like it was colored in red against the sunset.

It was the same symbol that was on Itachi's cloak and most likely the mark of the organization or gang behind the attacks. Naruto had one of his officers, Neji Hyuuga in fact, searching the crime databases for past felonies that may have been associated with the symbol.

Meanwhile he had gone to the hospital to see how Sasuke was. The Uchiha's body was ice cold though he was sweating. His face was a deathly pale, accentuating the rings around Sasuke's eyes to a solid black.

He had called Sakura to let her know what had happened this morning, that prevented them from ever reaching the institute. She promised to come as soon as she could.

The hospital was packed with all the injured people from the attacks and so Sasuke was placed in a room until a medic was free. When the medic finally came he examined Sasuke and took a few blood samples when told that the Uchiha was poisoned.

He returned ten or so minutes later with the results, a grim expression on his face. Naruto stopped pacing and braced himself for the news, "What is it doctor?"

"I'm afraid young man that the toxin used on your friend is one we don't have any cure for. To be honest, I've never seen such a poison before. Who ever made it knew exactly what he or she was doing. All we can do is hope his immune system will be strong enough to clean out the contaminant itself," the doctor explained.

"I see…thank you anyways doctor," Naruto mumbled as the medic left. He began pacing again, wondering why Sakura was taking so long. Just as he was about to call her again she walked in, "Naruto? Is Sasuke alright? What did the doctors say?"

He turned towards her slowly, "What took you so long?"

"The traffic was hectic, and there were so many damages to buildings and the road that it took forever getting here," the pink-head replied waiting for answers to her previous questions.

Naruto sat down in one of the chairs, "Sakura-chan, the doctors say that they don't have a cure for the poison. Sasuke is going to die unless his immune system manages to clean out the poison." His voice cracked halfway through his reply.

Sakura's eyes widened, a hand covered her mouth, tears making their way down her face. Naruto, trying to hold back his own tears, stood up and walked over to his teammate and best friend, enveloping her in a hug.

They both stood there for quite some time, silently crying for their lost teammate. By two o'clock or so, Kakashi had stopped by and left saying that maybe Tsunade could help. As promised, Kakashi showed up again an hour later, Tsunade with him this time.

"Hey grandma Tsunade," Naruto teased feebly.

Tsunade smiled weakly, "Brat. How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

Naruto grinned, though it seemed more like a grimace, "Too many times I guess."

She began to examine Sasuke and look at the blood samples that had been taken. She ran a few tests on the blood with cures that the hospital had to see if she could find a combination that worked. After an hour or so, with Sakura's help, they found a possible cure.

A mix of a flu and small pox vaccine with a tiny bit of pain killers. After mixing it, Tsunade injected it into Sasuke's bloodstream. Now all they could do was wait and see if it worked.

**Akatsuki Base…1703 hours…**

Itachi lay on his bed, fresh from the bath, mostly healed and feeling a lot better. He had dressed in clean clothes and a new cloak, that Pein had ordered made; Kakuzu agreed reluctantly, unwilling to part with money as usual.

He was contemplating his decision that stormy night. A knock at the door interrupted him from further reflection. He stood up and walked to the door, opening it smoothly.

His eyebrows furrowed for a second, before his mask came on, in puzzlement that Sasori was the one standing outside the door. He had expected his partner Kisame, or even the annoying blonde, Deidara.

"Can I help you Sasori-san?" he asked with cool regard.

Sasori replied with a smirk, "Yes. How did my poison work out for you?"

"Poison? Oh, it worked out wonderfully. Just as I needed," Itachi replied remembering the toxin he had used on his brother.

"That's good to hear, though I feel sorry for whomever you used it on," the redhead chuckled.

"Why do you feel sorry for them?" the Uchiha questioned, a wave of dread hitting him.

Sasori paused raising a brow, "Well the poison is lethal and there is no cure at all but the one that I carry. The affected person will suffer painfully as they die, undergoing several side effects such as fever, numbness, sweating, delusions, and hysteria. It's one of my most deadly concoctions."

Itachi froze, his body going stiff, "How long would the person have left to live?"

"I'd say eight or nine hours after the poison reached their bloodstream," the poison expert calculated.

"Could I have a bit of the cure?" the Uchiha asked, his thoughts flickering to the battle between himself and Sasuke.

Sasori tilted his head, "Why?"

Itachi cursed himself and scrambled for a reason, "I got a bit of the poison into my bloodstream."

"Sure. I'll go get it right now," the puppeteer mumbled heading towards his room.

Itachi closed the door, 'I didn't mean to kill Sasuke! If I had known the poison was that bad I wouldn't have used it in the first place. I hope I can get this to him in time.'

**Konoha National Hospital…1945 hours… **

The 'cure' had only slowed down the poison's effects for an hour or so. All hope seemed to be lost, Sasuke was going to die.

Sakura and Kakashi had gone to get coffee, Tsunade had left to help out in the hospital with the injured. Naruto sat in the room, holding the Uchiha's hand, talking to him, hoping that he would wake up.

"Sasuke, you know, I always hated you when we were kids. You were always the popular one, everyone liked you and you did everything perfectly. I wished so many times that I could be in your place, but I realize now, we're the same. We've both suffered, though people around us thought we were happy. Everyone thought you were perfect while you missed your family. I acted like a goofball so people would think I was fine while inside I was falling apart," Naruto whispered, eyes closed, hands gripping the Uchiha's tightly.

A breeze from outside blew the hair on the blonde's head up, causing the strands to dance about. He shivered and opened his eyes, the window was open though he could have sworn it was shut not but a minute a go.

There was a bottle on the window sill, on top of a small slip of paper. Naruto walked to the window, examining the items before looking outside to see where they could have come from, though no one was in sight.

'That's odd…' he thought, picking up the bottle and note and sitting back in his chair. He glanced at the note first. On it, written neatly in small, slanted, cursive writing were these words: "_This bottle contains the cure. Please use it on Sasuke. -A friend"_

He looked at the bottle, it was plain, white glass, and clear. Inside was a pinkish liquid, he swirled the bottle experimentally a few times. He held up the bottle once more against the fluorescent lights of the hospital, "The cure to the poison? Who could have left this…?"

Kakashi and Sakura walked in with the coffee, pausing and staring questioningly at Naruto and the bottle in his hands. Naruto glanced at them and explained how the bottle had magically appeared at the window. After arguing a bit, they decided it was worth a shot to try the liquid on the Uchiha. Perhaps the bottle was truly a cure and they had some unknown ally who was helping them secretly?

Naruto, being the one who found the bottle, pulled out the rubber stopper and walked towards the hospital bed. Sakura gently opened up Sasuke's mouth, while Kakashi held the Uchiha's body upright. Naruto carefully sniffed the bottle first, it smelled of roses and mint, deeming it safe he tilted the bottle and slowly poured the fluid into the Uchiha's mouth. Sakura rubbed his esophagus causing the Uchiha's throat to reflex and swallow the liquid.

They carefully laid his body back down, once again having to wait to see whether the 'cure' worked this time. They left the room silently, since it was getting late, and went home for the day, planning to come back early in the morning to see if their teammate had improved.

**Window of Uchiha Sasuke's Room…Konoha National Hospital…1945 hours…**

Itachi arrived back to Konoha once more, quickly as he could, hiding in the shadows and alleys of the city. He followed the blonde that had shot him to the hospital, watching as he paced. After a while the blonde sat down and began to talk to Sasuke. Itachi listened, smiling inwardly at how Sasuke was in good hands.

Remembering the reason he had risked returning Itachi watched the blonde closely. For a second the blonde closed his eyes, when the Uchiha was sure the blonde was not just blinking he seized his chance. Quickly he opened the window and placed his note and the bottle on the sill before backing up and climbing to the roof.

Once he was sure the blonde had picked up the bottle he climbed back down to the window. Two other figures walked in, they seemed to discuss the bottle and what to do with it.

'Please use it,' the Uchiha prayed silently. After a little bit of arguing they agreed to use it. The elder Uchiha breathed out a sigh of relief.

Outside of the window, Itachi Uchiha watched his little brother and his friends as they took the bottle he had placed and gave the remedy to Sasuke. Soon after that the three left the room, the Uchiha waited until their footsteps had completely receded before slipping inside the room.

He crept to the bed and stared down upon the younger Uchiha. He grabbed one hand and held it for a few heartbeats before lifting both of Sasuke's hands and placing them gently on his brother's chest.

Itachi brushed back a few stray locks from his brother's face, letting his finger brush Sasuke's cheek tenderly. His eyes softened and his lips came up in a full smile, the first in thirteen years, as he gazed at his own flesh and blood with affection.

After taking one last long glance, as if to memorize the features of the sleeping Uchiha's face, Itachi turned and walked back to the window, exiting gracefully and climbing back down to the ground into a back alley.

'Stay safe little brother,' he murmured quietly, staring up at the window, before disappearing into the shadows once more.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**Well I'll try to update Severed next though I'm on a small block as for how too write a part of the next chapter so I might just update this story again. And this is why I started to work on two stories at once, so if I get stuck on one I have another to work on. XD**

**Any ways, hope you all have wonderful day and that this chapter was somewhat touching, because I had fun writing this one.**

**Sincerely,**

**Lady Yuuki~**


	7. Author's Note

**Author****'****s Note: Gomen for not updating for almost four months. The last few weeks of school were really busy. Then after that I was busy with family things as well as a bit of laziness. **

**And now you****'****re all going to hate me more because I won****'****t be updating, well I****'****ll try but I****'****m mainly going to focus on rewriting ****"****The Akatsuki secret****"**** and ****"****Kitty Chaos****"****. **

**Hopefully once they****'****re done I****'****ll try to update Severed and Hands Stained****…**

**Until then, **

**Yuuki**

**Feel free to flame me, I deserve it. ):**


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